ThequestionissoimportantthatIwillrestateit。Ihaveimaginedaworldmadeupofpsychicalphenomena，freedfromthematerialconditionsunderwhichaloneweknowsuchphenomena。Canweadduceanyproofofthepossibilityofsuchaworld？Orifwecannot，doesourfailureraisetheslightestpresumptionthatsuchaworldisimpossible？
Thereplytothefirstclauseofthequestionissufficientlyobvious。Wehavenoexperiencewhateverofpsychicalphenomenasaveasmanifestedinconnectionwithmaterialphenomena。WeknowofMindonlyasagroupofactivitieswhichareneverexhibitedtousexceptthroughthemediumofmotionsofmatter。Inallourexperiencewehaveneverencounteredsuchactivitiessaveinconnectionwithcertainverycomplicatedgroupingsofhighlymobilematerialparticlesintoaggregateswhichwecalllivingorganisms。Andwehaveneverfoundthemmanifestedtoaveryconspicuousextentsaveinconnectionwithsomeofthosespeciallyorganizedaggregateswhichhavevertebrateskeletonsandmammaryglands。Nay，more，whenwesurveythenetresultsofourexperienceuptothepresenttime，wefindindisputableevidencethatinthepasthistoryofthevisibleuniversepsychicalphenomenahaveonlybeguntobemanifestedinconnectionwithcertaincomplexaggregatesofmaterialphenomena。
Asthesematerialaggregateshaveagebyagebecomemorecomplexinstructure，morecomplexpsychicalphenomenahavebeenexhibited。ThedevelopmentofMindhasfromtheoutsetbeenassociatedwiththedevelopmentofMatter。Andto-day，thoughnoneofushasanyknowledgeoftheendofpsychicalphenomenainhisowncase，yetfromallthemarksbywhichwerecognizesuchphenomenainourfellow-creatures，whetherbruteorhuman，wearetaughtthatwhencertainmaterialprocesseshavebeengraduallyorsuddenlybroughttoanend，psychicalphenomenaarenolongermanifested。Fromfirsttolast，therefore，ourappealtoexperiencegetsbutoneresponse。WehavenotthefaintestshadowofevidencewherewithtomakeitseemprobablethatMindcanexistexceptinconnectionwithamaterialbody。Viewedfromthisstandpointofterrestrialexperience，thereisnomorereasonforsupposingthatconsciousnesssurvivesthedissolutionofthebrainthanforsupposingthatthepungentflavouroftable-saltsurvivesitsdecompositionintometallicsodiumandgaseouschlorine。
Ouranswerfromthissideisthusunequivocalenough。Indeed，souniformhasbeentheteachingofexperienceinthisrespectthatevenintheirattemptstodepictalifeafterdeath，menhavealwaysfoundthemselvesobligedtohaverecoursetomaterialisticsymbols。Tothemindofasavagethefutureworldisamerereproductionofthepresent，withitseverlastinghuntingsandfightings。TheearlyChristianslookedforwardtoarenovationoftheearthandthebodilyresurrectionfromSheoloftherighteous。Thepicturesofhellandpurgatory，andevenofparadise，inDante’sgreatpoem，aresointenselymaterialisticastoseemgrotesqueinthismorespiritualage。Butevento-daythepopularconceptionsofheavenarebynomeansfreedfromthenotionofmatter；andpersonsofhighculture，whorealizetheinadequacyofthesepopularconceptions，arewonttoavoidthedifficultybyrefrainingfromputtingtheirhopesandbeliefsintoanydefiniteordescribableform。Notunfrequentlyoneseesasmileraisedattheassumptionofknowledgeorinsightbypreacherswhodescribeineloquenttermsthejoysofafuturestate；yetthesmiledoesnotnecessarilyimplyanyscepticismastotheabstractprobabilityofthesoul’ssurvival。Thescepticismisaimedatthecharacterofthedescriptionratherthanattherealityofthethingdescribed。Itimpliesatacitagreement，amongcultivatedpeople，thattheunseenworldmustbepurelyspiritualinconstitution。Theagreementisnothabituallyexpressedindefiniteformulas，forthereasonthatnomentalimageofapurelyspiritualworldcanbeformed。Muchstressiscommonlylaidupontherecognitionoffriendsinafuturelife；
andhoweverdeepameaningmaybegiventothephrase“theloveofGod，“onedoesnoteasilyrealizethataheavenlyexistencecouldbeworththelongingthatisfeltforit，ifitweretoaffordnofurtherscopeforthepureandtenderhouseholdaffectionswhichgivetothepresentlifeitspowerfulthoughindefinablecharm。Yettherecognitionoffriendsinapurelyspiritualworldissomethingofwhichwecanframenoconceptionwhatever。Wemaylookwithunspeakablereverenceonthefeaturesofwifeorchild，lessbecauseoftheirphysicalbeautythanbecauseofthebeautyofsoultowhichtheygiveexpression，buttoimaginetheperceptionofsoulbysoulapartfromthematerialstructureandactivitiesinwhichsoulismanifested，issomethingutterlybeyondourpower。Nay，evenwhenwetrytorepresenttoourselvesthepsychicalactivityofanysinglesoulbyitselfascontinuingwithouttheaidofthephysicalmachineryofsensation，wegetintounmanageabledifficulties。Agreatpartofthecontentsofourmindsconsistsofsensuouschieflyvisualimages，andthoughwemayimaginereflectiontogoonwithoutfurtherimagessuppliedbyvisionorhearing，touchortasteorsmell，yetwecannotwellseehowfreshexperiencescouldbegainedinsuchastate。Thereader，ifherequirefurtherillustrations，caneasilyfollowoutthislineofthought。Enoughhasnodoubtbeensaidtoconvincehimthatourhypothesisofthesurvivalofconsciousactivityapartfrommaterialconditionsisnotonlyutterlyunsupportedbyanyevidencethatcanbegatheredfromtheworldofwhichwehaveexperience，butisutterlyandhopelesslyinconceivable。